John Loisel

P-38 Lightning Ace of the 475th FG

On page 36 of John Stanaway's P-38
Lightning Aces of the Pacific and CBI, there's a black and white
photo of Major Loisel and three of his ground crew standing in front of
his P-38H, Screamin' Kid, (serial no. 42-66682/White 161).
Loisel is smoking a cigarette. Six little Japanese flags decorate the
nose, along with a cartoon character wearing a suit of armor. The four
airmen look casually competent. At the time, early 1944, Major Loisel
was CO the the 432nd Fighter Squadron.

John Simon Loisel, born on 21 May 1920 in Coeur
d'Alene,
Idaho, entered Army Air Corps flight training on 10 March 1941, and
received
his wings on 31 October. In September 1942 he was assigned to 36th
Fighter
Squadron, 8th Fighter Group in New Guinea, where he flew 83 combat
missions
in P-39s.

In July 1943 Lieutenant Loisel was selected to join the
cadre of the newly established 475th Fighter Group then forming
at Amberley Field, Australia. This group was General George Kenney's
"baby," the first P-38 Lightning group in the Fifth Air Force. Loisel
was initially assigned to the 432nd Fighter Squadron.

The Group moved to Dobodura, New Guinea in August, and began to
support McArthur's drive up the northern coast of New Guinea. Loisel
shot down two Tonys on a bomber escort mission to Wewak on 21 August
1943, a Zero near Finschafen on 22 September. The Japanese struck back,
attacking the U.S. air bases on October 15. Loisel downed two of the
raiding Zeros over Oro
Bay that day to gain ace status. Three days later he was promoted to
Captain. He downed two more Zeros in December, one on the 13th and the
other on the 21st. Taking command of the 432nd Fighter Squadron on 22
January, Loisel destroyed another Zero the next day. Over the next few
weeks the 475th flew numerous strike missions against targets in New
Guinea and the Halmaharas. On 3 April Loisel shot down an Oscar and a
Hamp on a low level bomber escort mission against enemy airfields at
Hollandia, New Guinea. He returned to the U.S. in August as a Major.

Loisel returned to the Pacific in January 1945 to become group
operations officer. Flying from the Philippines on 28 March 1945,
he destroyed a Frank near Tree Island, Indochina. At this stage, the
P-38s of the 475th Fighter Group, based at Clark Field near Manila,
flew mostly ground support, mop-up missions and a few long range bomber
escort mission. As the latter offered the only real opportunities to
engage Japanese fighters, the pilots eagerly sought these missions. In
his role as group operations officer, Major Loisel was able to assign
himself to one of these missions on March 28 - a B-25 strike on Jap
naval convoy off Indochina (Vietnam). All three squadrons of the 475th
were committed that day, two flights - eight aircraft, from each.
Loisel now led the 433rd Squadron's Red Flight.

Under the guidance of Charles Lindbergh, the 475th had worked out
the best way to extract the best fuel economy from their P-38s,
allowing them to achieve a combat radius of 800 miles. On the way out,
with drop tanks and full ammo loads, they stayed down on the deck,
leaned out the fuel/air mixture, reduced propeller revolutions,
throttled back, and avoided changes in speed & direction. Using
these techniques they cruised at about 170 MPH, a good speed to stay
with the relatively slow bombers, and used the absolute minimum of
fuel. On the trip home, using the same procedures, but without the drop
tanks and with less ammo, they flew about 35 MPH faster.

Twenty Lightnings (four planes had aborted) approached the
Indochinese coast with the B-25s, when they spotted the convoy and its
covering fighters, about a dozen Ki-84 Franks. The Franks didn't seem
to be in any formations larger than pairs, and apparently intent on the
bombers, they didn't react immediately when the P-38s closed on their
rear quarter. He approached on pair, and opened up at extreme range,
missing his target, but forcing it take evasive action. With a slight
nudge, he re-directed his four .50 calibers and his 20mm cannon to the
second Frank in the pair. This time his gunfire struck home, and as he
closed the range, he saw hits along the fuselage and right wing. The
Frank burst into flames, made sharp right turn, and dived into the sea.
This action had carried Loisel far beyond the Jap convoy and the B-25s,
so he turned back to cover the bombers. Another pilot, Lt. Wesley
Hulett, had been hit, and went down. Loisel circled and searched and
called in the PBY rescue planes, but to no avail; Lt. Hulett was never
heard from. As their fuel situation became critical, they headed back
toward Luzon, using their fuel economy techniques. A second American
pilot was lost when he ran out of fuel while still out at sea.

Promoted to Lieutenant Colonel on 15 May, Loisel assumed command of
the 475th on 15 July and led the group to Ie Shima and on to Kimpo,
Korea. He relinquished command on
18 April 1946 and returned home. During the Korean War, Loisel
commanded
the 47th Fighter-Bomber Group flying ground attack missions in the
F-84.
He retired from the U.S. Air Force as a colonel in 1970.

TALLY RECORD: 11 Confirmed and one Damaged

DECORATIONS: Silver Star, Legion of Merit, Distinguished
Flying Cross with 3 OLCs and the Air Medal with 9 OLCs.

Number 14 in Osprey's Aircraft of the Aces series. In their
standard 96 page format, with color plates of the imaginatively
decorated P-38s, B&W photos from the World War Two era, lots on
info on Bong and McGuire, and tables of the 5th AF, 13th AF, and CBI
Lightning aces.

Also an article covering the Yamamoto mission, describing the
controversy over credit for the kill. Many photos that I haven't seen
elsewhere.